Alex Mendelmar (Beliaev)
Program Director
Where did you grow up?
I was born in Russia, and lived in Moscow until I was about 15. In the mid-90s, my family emigrated to Canada. I finished high school and went to college in Toronto. I moved to Berkeley, California in 2006 to pursue a graduate degree in Anthropology, and lived there until I moved to Davis in January 2022.
Does your name have a story?
Yes, and apparently a rather dramatic one! One story that I heard—and kind of like—is that my dad and mom named me "Ilya" when I was born. However, my paternal great grandmother insisted that I get named in honor of someone in the family, and since there was nobody named “Ilya,” I was renamed to “Alexandre” or “Sasha.”
Where’s your favorite place to be in nature?
That’s a tough one! I really enjoy the geographic variety of the Point Reyes peninsula: beaches, sand dunes, headlands and the estero. Although, probably my favorite thing is to sit and watch the tides on Tomales Bay.
What’s one thing you value most in your workspace?
Collaboration across multiple fields of expertise. And, my first week at the Environmental Health Sciences Center (EHSC) has been pretty incredible: I got to meet community organizers, epidemiologists, engineers, statisticians and medical doctors. It seems like a really unique place, and I look forward to figuring out how I can be of service.
When did you first become aware of the connection between health and environment?
Probably when, as a kid, I was taught to differentiate between three kinds of water. I spent my summers in the country, where we had three three water sources: a local well pump (which was considered to be safe for drinking after boiling); piped water from a nearby town (which was considered to be good enough for doing dishes); and rainwater (which was used to water the vegetable garden).
How do your past experiences resonate with work happening at EHSC?
Over the last four years, I have served as the Director of Experiential Learning for the Masters of Engineering (MEng) program at UC Berkeley. Every year, I coordinated efforts of about 100 MEng capstone teams, collaborating with academic and partner advisors across various disciplines and industry sectors. All teams were working on solutions to real-world problems; among these were issues highly resonant with EHSC’s mission, including disaster response, aerial fire fighting, healthcare and healthcare disparities.
How are you connected to your own community?
This question is the toughest of them all, isn’t it? And, while it brings me pause, I appreciate it because it makes me recognize how much I miss these connections. While I’m grateful for my electronic devices, I very much miss hanging out and having people over.
Alex Mendelmar joined our team as Program Director in January 2022.